Poway facts and figures

Residents of Poway are getting much older, are still primarily white, live in big, expensive houses, and have decreased in number in the last decade. Exactly seven homeless people live in town, and more than 17,000 people work in the business park.

The city recently prepared a state-required 183-page housing report that contains an abundance of statistical information about the community derived from census information and several other sources.

Some highlights:

• Poway is one of only a handful of cities in the county that experienced a decrease in population between 2000 and 2010. In 2000, “The City in the Country” had 48,044 residents, compared with 47,811 in 2010. The San Diego Association of Governments projects that Poway’s population will increase by 13.1 percent by 2020, to 54,070 residents.

• The median age of a Powegian is 41.3 years, compared with a regional average of 34.6. Between 2000 and 2010, the number of people between 55 and 64 increased by a whopping 62.8 percent, and the number of residents who are 65 or older increased by 42.7 percent.

In comparison, the number of residents under age 5 decreased by 15.7 percent and the number of residents between 5 and 18 decreased by 18.5 percent.

• Poway residents are overwhelmingly white, but not by as much as they used to be. In 2000, just over 77 percent of residents were white, compared with just over 69 percent in 2010. Meanwhile, the Hispanic/Latino population of the city increased from 10.4 percent to 15.7 percent.

In comparison, whites make up 48.5 percent of the population regionwide, while Hispanics/Latinos make up 32 percent regionally.

• More than 70 percent of all households in Poway are categorized as being in the “above moderate income level,” while 22.2 percent are considered to be extremely low, very low or low-income households. Regionally, 39.4 percent of households fall into one of the low categories.

Only 4.3 percent of Poway residents live in poverty, a number slightly down from a decade earlier. The poverty level regionwide is 12.3 percent.

• The number of homes in Poway worth more than $1 million skyrocketed between 2000 and 2010. In 2000, there were 279 million-plus-dollar homes in the city. In 2010, there were 1,813 such homes, representing a 549 percent increase. The number of homes valued between $500,000 and $999,999 also increased by 218 percent.

• The Poway Business Park in the southern part of the city is the largest employment center. The 700-acre complex includes more than 500 businesses and employs more than 17,000 people. The largest employers include General Atomics Aeronautical Systems Inc., First American Credco, Geico, Teledyne, Delkin Devices, and SYSCO Food Services.

• In 2012, exactly seven homeless people were living in Poway, representing 0.1 percent of the city’s population.